Twenty-five years ago, August 23, 1993 the University of Minnesota held the official grand opening of the “New” Mariucci Arena. I was in the arena that night along with a who’s who of Gopher Hockey legends.
The Minnesota Golden Gophers ended their time playing at the “old” Mariucci that March with a WCHA First Round sweep of North Dakota and the current team would open their first official season in the new rink with the Hall of Fame Game against Michigan Tech in October.
But this night in Saturday was for honoring the legends who had played in the old rink and letting the Gopher ticket holders get their first look at what was nicknamed the Mecca of College Hockey.